Itaewon is my least favorite place in Seoul. Compared to the rest of the city it’s a bit of a dirty, disorganized place and I do not like the atmosphere. Due to the large U.S. military base stationed there, many American soldiers frequent the area and thus the district is filled with bars. The Koreans who work in shops there bother you with their wares, something that does not happen in the rest of the city too often. The only thing I can appreciate about Itaewon are the many foreign supermarkets and Turkish restaurants. So when I had to go to Itaewon today, I decided to make use of the opportunity and go out for a kebab. I was really looking forward to it. Real Turkish kebab!

After having finished shopping, I was on my way to the kebab shop. I met an elderly woman who was dragging along two large shopping bags. She dropped the bags in front of my feet and asked me in broken English if I could help her. I was in a good mood because of the Korean test I had just passed, so I answered with: "Sure, where do you need to go?" The lady pointed to the hill I had just came from and said: 'There is halal supermarket I need to go.' So I took her two heavy bags up the hill. It was a little further than she had let me to believe, but sometimes you have to help others so I did not complain about it. I put the bags down at the supermarket and wanted to say goodbye.

"Please, wait for me. I need buy something and then I need go back. Can you carry bags for me? " she asked. Surprised, I answered that I was in a hurry and so I had to leave. By now I really wanted to eat kebab. "Please, just five minutes," she began again. She nagged me for a while until I gave up and agreed to wait for her and then she quickly ran into the shop. "Hurry up," I shouted after her. “So far so good, I will soon bring those bags down quickly and then I can get rid of her,” I thought.

However, it didn’t take long for her to come back. "Do you have 3000 won?" she asked me. Now I started to get suspicious (Emre really, only now?!) and said that I had nothing on me. She didn’t believe me at all so I said that I only had a debit card. "Maybe you can pay for me?" she asked. I looked at her in disbelief. “Nevermind,” she said, and went back inside. She came back: "Maybe 500 won?" I repeated again that I only had a debit card and she had to hurry because I had to go. "Oh, I found 500 won," she said after she looked through her purse. She entered the store again and came back out with a plastic bag. 'Let's go,' I said impatiently and started to walk down.

We passed by the mosque and suddenly she said, "you know I’m muslim, but many bad people inside now so I not pray today. I get tired from bad people. " Then she greeted a Pakistani man who walked towards us and turned back to me. 'That man is Uncle Sam, she said. He bad man. I work for him and he give me no salary! “ I answered with a nod and tried to walk faster. The faster I would go down that hill, the sooner I would be rid of her, I thought.

'No, listen to me! “ she said to me while holding my arm and started a story about that she was a poor orphan from Thailand who only finished high school. "And I come here and work for Uncle Sam and he do not pay me salary! I clean carpet every day and no salary! I go to him and tell him I want money and he calls his son. He force me to marry his son! " Now I was really looking for a way out so I told her to go to the police. “I go to police! ‘ she replied fiercely. 'They do not believe! “ she said as she stopped walking and started rummaging through her handbag. I wanted to go on walking, but she grabbed my arm again.

'Listen!' She took several photos from her bag. One is of a child who did not in the slightest way resemble her. "This my son. Father take my son. He second husband and in American army. I need to get son back. Police do not believe. They say why you walk with baby photo of 26 year old son? " Then she showed me the next picture of some Asian girls in school uniform. "This my niece in Thailand. I need to get to Thailand. I need plane ticket, but they took passport. You have to help me to get back. ""I do not have money," I replied. 'I do not need money, you need to ask passport for me, “she replied. 'They do not believe me, but they believe you! ” 'No I can not, “I said firmly, while dropping the two bags on the street.

Then I made a run for it. Off the hill and in the subway, away from that crazy woman. While the metro left, my stomach began to protest and suddenly I realized that I had forgotten to buy the kebab, which I was looking forward to.

'Listen!' Er komen verschillende foto’s uit de tas tevoorschijn. Eén daarvan is een kind die niet in de verste verte op haar lijkt. 'This my son. Father take my son. He second husband and in American army. I need to get son back. Police don't believe. They say why you walk with baby photo of 26 year old son?' Daarna komt er een foto tevoorschijn van Aziatische meisjes in schooluniform. 'This is my niece in Thailand. I need to get to Thailand. I need plane ticket, but they took passport. You have to help me to get back.''I don't have money,' zeg ik. 'I don't need money, you need to ask passport for me,' antwoordt ze daarop. 'They don't believe me, but they believe you!''No I can't,' zeg ik streng en laat de 2 tassen op straat vallen.